Snow falling first at Shawnee Mountain

OK, it might not be from the sky, but Shawnee Mountain Ski Area began its winter snowmaking Sunday night through Monday morning. It's the earliest the mountain has ever made snow.

"We had a good forecast and had the system all ready to go and decided to do a test run," Jim Tust of Shawnee Mountain said.

Temperatures fell into the mid-20s Sunday night. It takes below-freezing temperatures to make snow.

"A clear, cold night is a great time to make snow," Tust said.

Workers blew snow on Shawnee's tubing hill and in the learning center.

Blue Mountain hasn't blown snow yet. "We are not testing our guns because we already know they are ready for the season," spokesman Heidi Lutz said.

The Palmerton ski area expects to start snowmaking operations in about two weeks as long as the weather cooperates.

"We would love to be open on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving," she said. "We want to be open as soon as possible."

Camelback had to deal with a construction-caused power shutdown for its new hotel before running the guns.

"With power being reinstated on some parts of the property due to hotel construction, the next few days will now be focused on testing our snowmaking equipment," Camelback General Manager Charles Blier said.

Not that it would be enough to wax your snowboards.

"As much as the night temps for last night were very favorable to snowmaking, the warmer temps expected afterwards would make it challenging to keep the snow," Blier said.

The forecast for the next 10 days is not favorable for making snow, with just two or three nights calling for freezing temperatures, according to weather.com.

Tust hopes to have Shawnee Mountain open at Thanksgiving.

Representatives from Big Bolder/Jack Frost could not be reached for comment.